It is important to protect your company’s intellectual property (IP). Ever wary of minimizing burn rate, startups may be tempted to defer investment in intellectual property protection. To those who have not tried to protect intellectual property, it feels complex and expensive. Too often, startups end up forfeiting intellectual property rights by neglecting to protect their ideas and inventions.

Type of loan. Many types of business loans need to be secured by collateral, whether that’s by your mortgage, investment accounts, vehicle, life insurance or other assets. You may find that while you still need to secure them, SBA loans come with better interest rates and requirements that aren’t as strict as other financing options. The fact that they’re guaranteed for up to 90% of their amount by the government gives lenders the confidence they need to make offers to customers who may be more risky borrowers.

Starting a business entails understanding and dealing with many issues—legal, financing, sales and marketing, intellectual property protection, liability protection, human resources, and more. But interest in entrepreneurship is at an all-time high. And there have been spectacular success stories of early stage startups growing to be multi-billion-dollar companies, such as Uber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Airbnb, and many others.
In most cases, franchise owners provide technical support, equipment, and other necessary materials to their franchisees. Also, fellow franchisees can merge and share best practices, business approaches, and marketing strategies to colleagues whose business acumen and management skills are still developing. Simply put, there are a lot of good reasons why starting a business by buying a franchise will be a success.
Start by learning about various franchise shops and restaurants in your preferred specialty. If you’re a fan of Panera Bread, for instance, go to the company’s franchise Information page and read up on the opportunity. If you need inspiration, Franchise.com keeps a running list of franchise opportunities, complete with a monthly featured franchise.

Franchise business loans typically come with more attractive terms than you are likely to find for any other type of start-up business loan. This is because lenders consider the financial stability, business model, and previous success of the franchise parent company when reviewing a loan application. Banks and alternative lenders are finding franchises to be an increasingly attractive investment. In 2011, the SBA reported approval of $1.5 billion in 7(a) loans for franchises, up from approximately $826 million the previous fiscal year. The 7(a) loan-guarantee program is the SBA's most popular loan program.

If your business will have employees, you will, at minimum, need to purchase workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. You may also need other types of coverage depending on your location and industry, but most small businesses are advised to purchase general liability (GL) insurance, or a business owner's policy. GL covers property damage, bodily injury and personal injury to yourself or a third party.
Online business lenders are a relatively new option, and they might provide more choice than you can find locally. You might also find it easier to get approved – these lenders are more interested in funding loans and growing than conservative banks and credit unions. Online lenders might also move faster than traditional lenders. That said, they’re not looking to lose money, so the loan still needs to make sense.
There are several loan programs aimed at helping first-time entrepreneurs set up their business. The Small Business Administration (SBA) operates the loan programs offered by the U.S. government. To qualify for the loan, your business must meet some criteria such as your business must operate in the United States, your business must qualify as a small business according to SBA guidelines, you must operate for profit and you should have a good credit score.
For-profit lenders are reluctant to issue loans to anyone who does not have a strong credit report and financial history. That is not the case with government small business loans. Obviously, a decent credit report is important, and you will have to follow the guidelines regarding the repayment period and the interest rate set by the government, but usually the interest rates charged by government loans are lower than those you could expect in the private sector.
The challenge is even greater for franchise owners looking to open new locations. They must pay a “franchise fee” amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, and the aforementioned deductions begin as soon as the new location opens its doors. Combine these expenses with inevitabilities like new equipment or furniture and you can see why business loans are popular for franchises. Multiple large expenses can easily pile up at the same time, making it extremely difficult to raise profits or save money.

Approximately 75 to 100 franchisors are offering or working on offering creative financing programs for start-up franchise owners or those looking to expand. Programs range from zero-percent financing for a limited-term, lower license fees, reduced royalties and minority stake ownership by franchisors in multi-unit outlets. Each brand has its own offering, so down payments and collateral requirements will vary.

Shannon is a writer and editor based in San Diego, CA. Shannon attended San Diego State University, graduating in 2005 with a BA in English. She is the former editor-in-chief of SteelOrbis, an online trade publication. Shannon has also published articles for LIVESTRONG.COM, eHow, Life'd, and other websites. She has been with Merchant Maverick since 2015, writing about POS software, small business loans, and financing for women entrepreneurs.

Online lenders: While you may lack collateral, run a new business and need money quickly, you may find that an online lender is your best option. In general, online lenders should be a “last resort.” The average APR for online loans can be as high as 108 percent, making it difficult for small businesses to pay the money off before the debt balloons.

A ROBS isn’t a loan, so there’s no debt or interest to pay back. This lets ROBS-financed franchises conserve more of their income, and as a result, they may be more successful in the long run. You do have to pay monthly administration fees when you do a ROBS, but compared to a loan the monthly fees are about 11x cheaper! This sets you up for a greater chance at long-term success than other financing methods.
Bank loan: You’ll need excellent business and personal credit to qualify for an SBA-backed bank loan. The U.S. Small Business Administration provides general small-business loans through banks with its 7(a) loan program. According to NerdWallet, the average SBA loan size is $371,000, although amounts can vary between $5,000 and $5 million. To qualify, you’ll need to provide:

Visuals – As Instagram is a visual platform, special attention has to be given to the visual aspect of your posts. As well as choosing a color scheme to match your brand, you should also use a consistent filter. Using the same filter for your posts will help users recognize your images. For instance, Madewell’s Instagram incorporates its color scheme for consistent images and branding.

There are probably understandable reasons for your bad credit. Most of us are still bouncing back from the recession, and some businesses were hit harder than others. Whether or not you decide to get a “bad-credit loan,” building up your credit is planning for the future of your company. Once you raise your credit score, it will be much easier to secure funding as your company grows.

Broadly, there are two types of loans: secured and unsecured. There are dozens of types of loans depending on their nature, purpose, applicability, loan amount, interest and terms but they can all be classified as either secured or unsecured. Secured loans require collateral. It is a tangible asset that acts as the security. Unsecured loans don’t need such collateral or any security.

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Over 99 percent of all business entities in the US are small businesses, according to The SBA Loan Book: The Complete Guide to Getting Financial Help Through the Small Business Administration. These businesses represent over half of the private workforce and the private-sector output and over 40 percent of all private commercial sales in the United States.

Traditionally, the first place franchisees turn for financing is the franchisor. Almost all U.S. franchisors provide debt financing only. Some carry the entire loan or a fraction thereof through their own finance company. We found fractions of 15 percent, 20 percent and 25 percent, all the way up to 75 percent of the total debt burden. The franchisors we talked to emphasized that these figures are simply guidelines and not hard and fast limits.

SBA small business loans. Some banks offer attractive low-interest-rate loans for small businesses, backed and guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Because of the SBA guarantee, the interest rate and repayment terms are more favorable than most loans. Loan amounts range from $30,000 to as high as $5 million. However, the loan process is time consuming with strict requirements for eligible small businesses. Visit the SBA website to see a list of the 100 most active SBA lenders.
Able Lending may also lend you additional funds based on your qualifications and how much you can raise from the people you know. If you can raise up to 10% of your total loan amount from people you know, have a 600+ credit score, have been in business for at least 1 year, and have $100K+ in annual revenue, then you could qualify for a loan through Able Lending. Either way, they can fund you for up to $1,000,000 in as quick as 1 week.
Bank loan: You’ll need excellent business and personal credit to qualify for an SBA-backed bank loan. The U.S. Small Business Administration provides general small-business loans through banks with its 7(a) loan program. According to NerdWallet, the average SBA loan size is $371,000, although amounts can vary between $5,000 and $5 million. To qualify, you’ll need to provide:

2. You can do it because there is a business appropriate for just about everyone’s interests, experience, passions or expertise. “Starting a business” really only comes down to figuring out your business idea, doing your paperwork, and sorting out the money. Given the number of funding resources available today, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem getting that initial startup cash, especially if you focus on a lean business model or MVP route to market.

Getting money in advance of doing any business is called “mobilization capital.” This means you are looking for capital to help start a business and don’t have customers yet. This is also known as unsecured lending and is typically very difficult to secure. Your best bet in these situations is to try and raise seed capital investment aka friends and family investors. If your hot idea is really as good as you think, you should be able to find friends to join up and start up a company.
If you can secure a credit card in your company name and make purchases and on-time payments, you can get financing and start building good business credit at the same time. Of course, the credit limit, interest rate, and terms of payment will vary, and each bank or credit union will have eligibility requirements, so this option will not work for everyone.